Friday, September 19, 2008

Come quick! There's a BIRD!

Emma has been spending a lot of time patrolling the garden fence lately. The other day she came and got me and made it clear I was to follow her. I did. She took me to the garden fence and mounted a nice point. Silly dog! Well, I was the silly one. Some little ground-nesting bird, as yet unidentified, had moved into the squash patch and Emma wanted me to know about it. I didn't believe her point at first, but I finally went in through the gate and by golly if I didn't flush it. Emma was delighted.

Good girl! Barkley is a black lab and he points. When he started doing it, the breeder (who'd raised a number of litters including national field champions) said "oh that's just a puppy thing". He's still doing it, on peanuts for the tree rats, candy wrappers, doves, ducks, you name it. Only lab I've ever had that did that.

My best hound is Sam. He's old now though, has to take medicine for his arthritis, and he's mostly blind. He has a place down the mountain, by the creek. He likes to sleep in the ferns there in summer, the water and the shade make it cooler. When I come home from work I have to stop by his place and put him in the back of the Jeep, he can't make it back up the mountain on his own power. I know if I took him to the vet they'd say what they always say, that he should be put to sleep. But to hell with that. Like me, he can carry on til he can't anymore, then croak.